Weekend Together
by Fallen Ark Angel
Summary: Eli and Auden have to spend the weekend together. Not that either of them is excited about it... Oneshot.


Weekend Together

"So what are you doing this weekend?"

I shrugged, not looking away from my laptop. "Nothing. You?"

"I driving down to Colby," Maggie said as she pulled on her Abe's Bike hoodie that Adam had sent her last week. She was standing in front of the doorway to my bedroom in the apartment that we decided to rent together after our sophomore year.

"For what? Just to see Adam?"

"No. There's a carnival in town. It'll be fun. You should go."

"I'll think about it," I said, still typing away on Microsoft Word. "Where are you going right now?"

"Meeting some people for coffee. You wanna come?"

"No, I'm alright. I need to finish this."

After she was gone, I worked a little bit more on my paper before quitting for the night. It was Thursday and I only had two classes tomorrow, which were both morning. I could leave and go to Colby if I wanted to. The only question was whether I did or not.

Eli and I had been in a weird place the past few months. We had stopped meeting at Ray's and only called each other every few weeks. He was still mad that over the summer, I went with my mother to Europe. For some reason, he thought that I should just put my life on hold and spend two months living with him. It's not my fault that he dropped out again. I told him not to.

Pulling out my cell phone from my pocket, I sent him a text to call me if he wasn't busy. About twenty minutes later, I was back into my paper when my cell rang.

"I'm busy, Eli."

"You're the one that said to call you."

I sighed a little. "That was nearly a half hour ago."

"Do you want to talk or not? Because I can personally go without it if you want."

"You're such a jerk."

"Oh, yeah, alright. Sure."

I sighed. "I called to see if you wanted me to come down to Colby this weekend. Maggie is and I figured that I would come see you. We could go to the carnival."

"Do you want to come down?"

"Well, are you busy?"

"No more than usual."

"Do you want to go to the carnival?"

"Do you?"

"Not really, but I will if you want to."

"I could come see you instead," he offered.

"No. I want to see my sister anyways."

"Then come down. When do you think you'll be here?"

"I'm leaving after my last class tomorrow."

"I'll be at work, but you have a key. Do whatever you want until I get off."

"Okay."

It was silent for a second and I thought that he had hung up until he spoke again.

"So you probably have to get back to your…whatever you're busy with, huh?"

"Well…Yeah, I guess so."

He sighed a little. "I'll, uh, see you later, Auden. Tomorrow, I mean. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah. Same."

* * *

When I got to Eli's, I immediately crashed on his bed. It was around nine when I was woken up by him touching me.

"Eli, stop," I mumbled, not opening my eyes.

"Wake up then." He kissed me as he crawled into bed with me. "Come on, Auden."

I groaned a little as he pushed me onto my back. "Not even a hello?"

"I was getting to it," he defended, staring into my eyes. "But now that you beat me to it, we can get to what I really want to do."

After that was over, Eli wrapped me up in his blankets and went to take a shower. He said that he had promised his mom that he'd stop by her house around ten for dinner. When I asked why they were having such a late dinner, he said that his brother Steven was coming into town and he was getting in around nine.

"You wanna come? Ten minutes to get ready," he said when he got out.

"I thought it was a family thing?"

"You're my girlfriend, Auden. You can come if you want."

So I'm his girlfriend today. Last week, I was the person that needed to stop texting him so much because he had a life and it didn't revolve around me. Yeah.

"Do you want me to come?"

"It's up to you," he said, pulling on a shirt. "But if you're going to come, then get up and get ready."

I pushed out of his bed and went into the bathroom. About fifteen minutes later, we were in his truck, driving to his mother's house.

"Hey, Dad," Eli said as he father opened the door for us when we arrived.

"Hey, Eli," he greeted. When he saw me, he said, "You didn't say Auden was in town."

"Figured she could come with me," Eli said, leading me into the house. "It's alright, right?"

"Yeah. Of course. I just meant, you two didn't have to come. You probably want to spend the weekend alone, right?"

"Not really," Eli said, shooting me a glance. He was kidding, or at least he planned to come off that way. "She's here the whole weekend anyways. We'll do something tomorrow."

"You're late," his mother said as we came into the dining room. Eli just smiled at her.

"Auden's fault," he said, pulling me out a chair. It was crammed at the table already and Eli had to go get another chair from the kitchen to accommodate me. No one seemed to care, but I did feel out of place.

My family didn't have 'family' dinners. I mean, I went to meeting dinners with my mom when I was a kid and she didn't have a babysitter for me, but I never went to some big family thing where we all hung out. Every time Eli takes me to one of his, I feel funny. Him being the most nonsocial member of his family didn't help me any. Yet I still get stuck going to most things. He liked me coming to them and insisted that we spend nearly every holiday together. As neither of my parents ever had any heavy plans, it was either him or Hollis, which is never happening.

Dinner was over rather quickly though it seemed to drag on in my mind. After that, we got stuck in the living room, watching a movie. Eli and I only stayed for half before he claimed that he had work in the morning and had to leave. Jake called him out on it, but his father told us to just go.

"Where else are we going tonight?" I asked as we got into the truck.

"I don't really have anywhere to go. You need anything?"

"Nope. Except-"

"If you're going to say those chips you like, I bought some yesterday when you said that you were coming down. Your sodas too."

I smiled a little. "Then I don't need anything."

"Good. Let's go back home."

"Alright."

When we got there, Eli went into the bathroom while I got back into bed. I was huddled under the sheets when he got back.

"Cold?"

"A little." I rolled onto my stomach. "Did you wash your sheets? They smell good."

"Just for you." He kissed my lips before pulling back. "You have fun tonight?"

"I've had worse times."

"Same here. The strange thing is, you're involved in most of them."

"Haha."

He went back to kissing me, which lasted for awhile. When we finished making out, Eli said, "I wish we had waited."

"For?"

"Earlier. I wish we waited until now."

"Well, I am so not doing it again, so you lost out on that one."

"Why not? I'm so-"

"No."

Groaning, Eli moved away from me. "Midnight rule."

"What rule?"

"It's midnight. It's a new day. We haven't had sex yet today."

"Shut up. That is not a rule."

"I can make it one."

"Eli."

He shifted a little so that he was laying on his back. "Fine. Whatever. I can't sleep though."

"Neither can I," I said, moving closer to the wall. "Do you really work tomorrow?"

"Yeah. Not for long."

"Mmmm."

"What do you want to do tomorrow?"

"I don't know. What do you want to do?"

He sighed a little. "Neither of us ever has something in mind."

Nothing we would say, at least.

"Yeah…"

"We'll go to the carnival that night, alright? Until then I guess you can hangout with Heidi and Thisbe. You could see Leah too."

"Yeah." I closed my eyes. "Eli?"

"What?"

"Do you really think that I text you too much?"

He sighed. "No. You texted me, like, twice that day and I was in a bad mood. No hard feelings either way, alright?"

"I don't know if I can agree with that. You basically threatened me with a break up even though there was nothing I could do about the texts."

"I did not threaten you with anything."

"Do I need to pull out my phone and prove it?"

"See, Auden, that's what I can't stand about you. Just take my word for shit, okay? I didn't mean to make you think that I wanted to break up, alright?"

"Why are you getting so angry?"

"I'm fucking not."

"Whatever, Eli. I'm so over this."

"This?"

"This," I said, gesturing with my hands. "We fight while I'm gone; we fight when I get back. When are we going to just be cool?"

"I don't know. Maybe if you layoff-"

"Right. My fault. Sorry. I forgot." I put my back to him. "I wish I hadn't just texted you yesterday or answered my phone."

"Me too."

Eli got out of bed and went over to the stove. I glanced behind me and saw him making something. Probably hotdogs. I was going to wait up and see what he was making, but instead I accidentally fell asleep. Some time later, his door slamming woke me up. I sat up and looked around.

"Eli?" I called out, but got no answer. He had left. Frowning, I happened to glance over at the single chair in the room and saw that he had sat a plate of the chips he knew I liked on it along with one of my sodas. I smiled a little, getting up to eat them as I made a pot of coffee.

After I finished the chips, I went and took a long shower. After that, I crawled back into bed, taking the soda with me. I figured that it was still to early to go and see Heidi and Thisbe, so I really had nothing else to do. I was contemplating getting up and going out to my car to get my laptop when Eli came back in. He didn't even look at me as he went over to my discarded plate from the chips.

"You could throw stuff away, you know."

"I was going to, Eli."

"Yeah, sure."

He finished off my drink and threw it away before getting into bed with me.

"Where did you go?"

"Out."

"To do what?"

"Take care of stuff, Auden."

I didn't want to fight with him, so I just moved a little bit away from him. Reaching out, he ran a finger through my hair.

"You showered."

"Yeah."

"You know I hate for women to use my shower."

"I better be the only woman to use your shower."

He shrugged. "I don't like for you to get your hair all on my soap and in my drain."

"Eli."

"What? It's a legitimate problem."

"How will we ever live together?"

"Who said that we ever were?"

When his joke didn't go over well, Eli leaned over and kissed me.

"I didn't mean that."

"I know."

"You can just bathe in the sink when we live together, 'kay?"

"Eli."

"Stop saying my name so much." He rolled over to face me. "It annoys me."

"Does it?"

"Yeah."

"Then I need to do it more."

"Of course." He rubbed his head against my neck.

"El-"

"I will tape your mouth shut."

"…Okay, you're starting to freak me out."

He just kissed me again. "Halloween is coming up, Auden."

"And?"

"I think I should now give you in full detail what I'll do to your body."

"Is it...sexual?"

"It can be."

"I'd rather it not be. Keep that part a secret until the big day."

"Well, alright, if you insist. Anyways, after I have my gruesome way with you, I'm going to cut a slit down the middle of your head-"

"Is this necessary?"

"Uh, yeah."

"Okay, continue, I guess."

"So, the slit down the middle of your head, I'll let it fester a little before taking your body, stringing it up by your toes, and let the blood slowly drip out of your body until you're completely drained. Then more…surprise sex stuff…and finally I just bury you in my mother's backyard, planting a tree on top."

I blinked. "So…is this like a weird fantasy or something you thought up when you were mad at me?"

"You'll never find out, my dear," he said, kissing me again. For some reason, I just couldn't reciprocate. I have no idea why…

"Eli-"

"There you go again. Are you like secretly digging me killing you? Because it can be arranged."

"We are so not having sex for a long time if that's what gets you in the mood."

"It's not."

"Yeah, like I'm going to take your word for it. You just freaking threatened my life, Eli."

"Not until Halloween."

"Gee, thanks."

"No problem."

* * *

"-so all that will be nine eighty- Auden!"

Heidi perked up real fast, making the customer in front of her frown. My ex-stepmother apologized before finishing their transaction. As soon as the woman was out of the shop, Heidi ran to me, pulling me into a hug.

"How long have you been here?"

"I got in last night."

She sent Eli, who had come in with me before going to work, a look. "You came by this morning and didn't mention it?"

"You didn't ask," he said as Thisbe came running out of the back.

"Eli!" She ran to him, holding up her arms. He smiled, picking her up.

"What about me?" I asked, looking at her. "Aren't you happy to see me too?"

"She already knew you were here," Eli explained as Thisbe patted his head. "She asked. I told her. Heidi didn't ask."

Now certain that Eli wasn't going to put her down, Thisbe reached out and patted my face. "Hi, Auden."

"Hi."

"Carnnie?"

"Huh?"

"She means the carnival," Heidi said, rolling her eyes. "I couldn't take her yesterday. Are you guys going tonight?"

"Yeah," Eli said, nodding a little.

"Can you take-"

"N-"

Eli cut my off. "Yeah. Sure."

I frowned. "Eli-"

"Duct tape, Auden. Duct tape."

"Restraining order, Eli. Restraining order."

Heidi gave us both a weird look. "If you don't want to take her it's fine. I'm sure I can-"

"No really. We can," Eli said, setting her back down. "Come on, Auden. I have to get to work."

I said bye to Thisbe and Heidi before accompanying him on his short trek across the road.

"Why didn't you want to take your sister with us tonight?"

"Besides the fact that you've confessed to having sexual fantasies about murdering me?"

"Yeah."

"It was a date, Eli. We never get to just go on dates."

"I take you to Last Chance every time you come down."

"Big whoop."

He thumped my head. "Stop being like that."

I sighed as I followed him into Abe's Bikes. "I'm going home tomorrow, Eli, and we spent the first day with your family and now we're stuck spending tonight with my sister."

"Auden, I will take you to something next time you're in town."

Jake, who was sitting behind the counter, looked up. "You guys could go see this band I know next week. They're playing near Defriese."

"Who?" Eli asked, going to the back for a moment before returning with two cokes. He handed one to me before looking at his brother.

"Spinnerbait."

"Ew," Eli said, making a face. "Are you serious?"

"What?"

"Even Auden doesn't like Spinnerbait."

"…What is that supposed to mean?" I frowned at Eli while he just walked off into the back again. Jake shrugged, looking back down on some sort of notepad he was writing on. I sighed, going into the back with Eli.

"I thought you were going to spend the day with Thisbe?" He asked as I sat down on a stool next to where he was beginning to working on a bike.

"I just wanted to spend some form of time with you."

He shrugged, not even looking at me. "Whatever."

I stayed for about twenty more minutes before his attitude got on my nerves and I went back over to Clementine's. Heidi was busy, but I did find Thisbe in the back room, playing with toys.

"Hey, Thisbe."

"Hi, Auden!"

I sat down at the desk chair, watching her for a minute. "How have you been?"

"Good."

"That's good." I smiled at her. "What have you been doing?"

"Saw Daddy."

"'When?"

"Um…Yesterday week."

"You mean last week?"

"Yes," she giggled. "Go see Daddy."

"That's good."

"Yes." She looked up from her toys. "Eli?"

"He's working."

"Like Eli."

I smiled a little. "Yeah, I like him too."

About an hour later, Eli came and got me. He said that he didn't have a lot of work today and was done. When he asked if I wanted to go with him to his mother's, I readily agreed.

"So what are we doing?" I asked him as we pulled up.

"I have to mow the grass."

"Oh."

"You can hangout while I do it, if you want." He jumped out of the truck and started for the backyard. I followed him.

"Eli?" His brother, Steven, was back there, smoking. His father was standing on the porch too, talking to his oldest son. "What are you doing here?"

"I have to mow the lawn."

His father shook his head. "You can another time, Eli. You have Auden in town. You guys go have fun."

"Trust me, it's better for both of us if I mow the lawn," he said, headed over to the shed. I followed, frowning.

"You make everyone think that we hate each other," I hissed in his ear as we went in to get the lawn mower.

"You said it, not me."

"Eli-"

He kissed me for a minute before pulling away. "Stop saying my name so much. And get the gas tank so I can refill the mower."

As he pulled the mower out, I went to pick up the gas tank for him. Once Eli was started on the lawn, I went over to the porch to stand with his father and brother. His brother immediately went in, but his father made some small talk with me before heading back inside. I sat down on the porch steps, waiting for Eli to finish. When he did, he came and sat down next to me.

"So now you're done?"

"With the back, yeah. I still have to do the front." He pulled off his shirt, as he was now sweaty. It never makes sense to me why guys feel the need to just pull off their shirts when they get hot when, a woman doing the same work as him, doesn't.

"You want me to do it?"

"Auden, why would you?"

"You can go talk to your brother if you want," I offered. "Plus, you look tired."

"I can do it, Auden. I'm just going to rest for a second."

"I'll just do it, E-"

"Fine. Whatever."

I ran my hand down his arm before going to get the lawn mower and drag it to the front. Mowing the lawn is not nearly as fun as it looks. I had done it before a handful of times, but knowing that I didn't really have to do it and could just call Eli out there to do it made it worse.

When I finished, Eli came walking out of the house with a soda.

"You just got me chewed out by my father," he told me as we started to go put up the mower.

"Why?"

"He thinks I made you mow the lawn."

"And? I've mowed a lawn before."

"He thinks that I've been rude to you the past two days."

"I concur."

Again, I got thumped.

"I have not been rude to you."

"You always tell your father that you don't want to hangout with me."

"When?"

"Each time he says that I'm here, you need to spend time with me, you crack some stupid joke about not wanting to."

"I have though, Auden."

"What? You slept with me so now you've spent time with me? We spent the night together, Eli. That's it."

"You came to my job and bothered me."

"For about ten minutes."

"Twenty."

"Whatever."

We put the mower back in the shed before leaving. We stopped and got some lunch before heading back to his apartment.

"When do you want to go to the carnival?"

"Around seven good?" He asked. "We'll pick up Thisbe, keep her for an hour or two, take her back, and then just you and me, alright? Back to being a date, okay?"

"That's fine, Eli."

"Stop saying my name, Auden."

"Eli. Eli. Eli, Eli, Eli, E- Get off!"

He shoved me down onto the bed. "I warned you. Multiple times."

"E-"

"Don't move," he said, holding me down with one hand while reaching under the bed with another. Finally, he pulled out a roll of silver duct tape.

"E-"

"I warned you."

"I swear if you put that- Eli!"

Straddling my stomach, he used his weight to hold me down as he needed both hands to start unraveling the tape. The sound it made as he pulled it made me struggle more.

"Eli-"

"There you go again. You never learn." He moved it closer to my mouth. "I'll hate not being able to see your pretty lips." Kissing me, he sat the tape to the side. "Now, are you going to be good or am I seriously going to have to duct tape your mouth?"

"You put that duct tape on my mouth and we are never going to have sex again."

"So you'll behave?"

"E-"

He picked up the duct tape, pulling it a little. I took a deep breath.

"Fine. I won't say your name anymore. Happy?"

"Not anymore, Auden. You can say it. Just not as much. You sound like my mother, you know. Eli. Eli. Eli. It annoys me."

"What do you want me to call you?"

He rubbed himself against me. "Master and Chief."

"Uh, no."

"Well then."

I stared into his eyes for a second. "You're in a good mood right now."

"Yes, I am."

I smiled a little. "I like saying your name, Eli."

"Why?"

"I don't know. It's a good name."

"That it is," he agreed, nodding his head. "I like yours too. Kind of."

"Kind of?"

"When I tell people your name…they don't believe me."

"Oh."

"Then I explain that your dad's a freak."

"…That's one way to describe him, I guess."

Eli laughed again. "But seriously, you don't plan to, like, continue the tradition, do you?"

"Tradition?"

"Of naming your kids stupid things?"

"I don't really plan on having kids."

"Oh." He finally got off me, moving onto what was usually my spot on the bed.

"D…Do you?"

"I don't know. I guess so, yeah. It's just something people do, I always figured."

"Have kids?"

"Yeah."

"I've just never taken care of something," I said, blushing a little.

"Really? Not even a pet?"

"…In first grade, the class hamster went home with me and it died."

"How?"

"They say old age, but…I guess I'm just not a good owner."

Eli tried to hide his laughter, but I saw it.

"It's not funny!"

"Sorry," he said, shaking his head. "But, uh, no other pets?"

"Hollis had a fish. He didn't feed it and it died. That's it."

Eli shifted on the bed so that he could wrap an arm around my shoulders. "Aud, having a baby is different than having a pet."

"I know."

"I mean, you don't think so, but the second that you have a kid, you just know how to take care of it. That's what I think at least."

"I wouldn't go that far."

"I would," he said, nodding. "I think that you just get connected to it."

I shook my head. "I just don't see me ever having a kid. You, though, seem like you would be a good dad."

"Do I?"

"Yeah."

"So where does that leave us?"

This was getting weird instead of the lighthearted conversation it began as.

"I don't know."

"Well," he started, shifting again so that I was sitting in his lap. "I think that you secretly do want a baby."

"Why?"

"We rarely ever use protection, Auden."

"That's on you. You're the one that's too cheap to buy condoms."

"Yeah, but you sure aren't helping any by not being on birth control."

"I don't have the money, Eli."

"Yeah, well, I'm sure your rich mother does."

"She is not rich. And, besides…she doesn't like you."

"Yeah, I've noticed."

I kissed him. "What about you though?"

"What about me?"

"You don't use protection. Does that mean that you want to get me pregnant?"

"God no."

"Eli."

"I mean, not now. Not for a long time. I just think of life all as something that happens. If I ever do knock you up, cool. If not, whatever."

"Knock me up? What are you? A junior high kid?"

"I am a freshman this year, thank you."

I cuddled back against him. "I'm not saying if I had a baby, I wouldn't want it. I'm just saying that I don't picture me having one."

He kissed my neck before moving me to lay down on the bed. "You wanna hear something else I want to do to you?"

"What?"

"I want to take you out to the ocean."

"Fun."

"But wait, there's more." He nuzzled my neck. "First, I'll start making out with you. You'll wrap your arms around my neck, mumbling something stupid about how much you love me. I'll slowly start moving you towards the waves. When we get there, I'll push you down. You ask what? I want a blow. You agree-"

"That's never happening so-"

"My fantasy here, Auden."

Groaning, I told him to go on.

"So, there we are, you blowing-"

"I thought that last time I told you no sex stuff?"

Again, he just took a deep breath. "Well, fine. After that's done, you stay on your knees, the water now up to your waist. I smile at you and you smile back. Then I hold your head under water. I drown you. More sex stuff and finally, you end up in my mother's backyard."

"…What exactly did we mow over today? Do I need to do a check up on Belissa?"

"Haha, Auden." He kissed my cheek, still staying over me. "Tell me one of yours."

"Eli, you don't really think about shit like that. I know that you don't. You just made that all up right now."

"How do you know?"

"Because, if you really did think about stuff like that, I couldn't be with you. You're just trying to freak me out."

"Who are you to talk down to my fantasies?"

"Eli."

"Stop saying my name."

We talked for a long time until we decided to go get Thisbe. She was waiting for us at Clementine's.

"Eli!"

He picked her up before looking at Heidi. "We'll be back."

"Okay. I'll be at the house," she said, not looking up from some form she was filling out. "Bye, Thisbe."

"Bye-bye," she called as Eli and I carried her out.

* * *

"Eli-"

"I will win her the stupid stuffed animal if she wants the stupid stuffed animal," he said, wasting more tickets on some fruitless game. He picked up the ball and threw it at the bottles. Only one fell.

"Eli get Simba!" Thisbe hit his leg. "Eli!"

"I'm trying!"

Adam, who we had met up with, sighed. "Eli, you're not gonna win."

"I'm going to get her the stupid toy."

Adam and Maggie stayed for another minute before walking off. After another ten, Eli finally won.

"Which one, Thisbe?"

She pointed to the biggest Simba there was. "Mine!"

"Okay," the guy said before handing it over. As we walked away, I just stared at my boyfriend. It was just a big Simba doll from when he was still a cub. What would Thisbe do with that?

"So you're going to carry that around all night?"

"…Why do you have to ruin everything?" He had the doll under his arm, but its legs were still dragging on the ground.

"Simba!" Thisbe patted the doll before reaching up to grab my hand. "My Simba!"

I went to go get us some food while Eli and Thisbe headed back to the car to put up the stupid toy. When I found them again though, the toy was gone, but once again, Eli was getting another.

"Get Nala, Eli!" Once again, she hit him. "Eli!"

I just groaned, walking over to them. This was the game where Eli had to shoot the ducks with the gun.

"What made her get you to do this?"

"Simba needs Nala," he explained. "I'm sucker."

"Yeah, I know."

* * *

Thisbe ended up not going home until the carnival closed. When we got to Heidi's, she was a little pissed, but didn't want to say anything. After all, free babysitting is free babysitting. Period.

"So much for date night."

Eli shrugged, pulling off his shirt. "Your sister had fun."

"Yeah, _she_ did."

Rolling his eyes, Eli laid down on the bed. "Like you had such a miserable time, Auden."

"That's not the point. I came down here to be with you-"

"And you are! Every night." He closed his eyes. "You leave tomorrow. You wanna leave angry? Keep going. If not, lay down, and I'll think about letting you stay."

"If you keep acting like that, I'm not-"

"Acting like what? Huh? I haven't done anything to you."

"You-"

"What would we have done without Thisbe, Auden? Huh? Make out? Are you seriously going to fight with me because I don't make out with you enough? Huh?"

"Eli, that point is that you said it was going to be an us night and you made it a you and Thisbe night."

"How? I won her a few stuffed animals."

"Seven. You won her seven."

"What? You want one? You jealous?"

"No."

"Then shut up." He rolled over. "Get in bed and shut up."

"No."

"Then stand there and shut up. I don't care."

I left, not knowing where I was going, but not wanting to deal with him either. I had never been to Clyde's by myself, but he didn't seem to mind me. I was there, eating éclair and sipping coffee when Eli showed up. Not saying anything, he just sat down next to me. Clyde gave him some coffee and pastries.

"Late night?" He asked Eli.

"Had later."

He nodded. "Gave your girlfriend some cake before you got here. Did not turn out the way I was expecting. Hope the éclairs better."

They talked for awhile, but I told Clyde goodbye after a couple more minutes. He just smiled at me and told me to come by again next time I was in Colby. I went back to Eli's.

"You've got to get up in the morning," he told me about an hour later when he came in. I was feigning sleep and didn't answer. Eli stripped down before getting in bed with me. Kissing my head, he wrapped an arm around my body before going to sleep.

* * *

I took a shower at Eli's even though he 'hated' it. And maybe I purposely left a hair on his soap. Maybe…

"Eli, I'm leaving."

He grunted.

"I'm seriously about to go. Are going to just end it like this?"

"Come here."

I went over to the bed and he sat up, opening his eyes a little. Eli pulled me into a hug.

"I'll take you somewhere, okay? Next time you're in town, we'll spend a day holed up in the apartment and the next just us. Promise."

"Okay."

Eli kissed my head. "See you later, Auden."

"Bye."

We kissed for a minute before he let me go and laid back down. "Call me when you get there."

"Okay."

We kissed quickly this time and hugged once more before he let me go. I was driving back when I got caught up behind a wreck. Standstill traffic. By the time I got back to the apartment, I realized that I had had my phone off. Turning it on, I was bombarded with texts from Eli, wanting to know where I was. I called him.

"You could try returning my texts, Auden."

"I was driving."

"And?" Apparently, he totally disregards my safety.

"Plus my phone was off."

"Well, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," I said, dropping my stuff in my room. "I was in traffic."

"Oh…Well, I have to go. I'll talk to you tomorrow or something, alright?"

"Alright."

"B-"

"Bye the way, Eli, I want it now to be known that you are the one with the texting problem, not me."

"…I thought that something had happened to you."

"Is that what you thought?"

"Yes! Besides, if something did, then how could I do those horrible things to your body? I put many years into you, Auden. No one's going to take Halloween away from me."

"Well, I'll be making sure not to visit Colby during Halloween."

"That's okay. I know where you live."

"That's unfortunate," I said, sitting down on my bed and pulling my laptop out of my bag. "I have a paper to finish, Eli. I'll talk to you later."

"Bye," he said before hanging up. I was back into the paper I was working on Thursday when there was a knock at my open bedroom door.

"You're back?"

"Yep," I said, not looking up at Maggie. "When'd you get back?"

"Last night. Adam drove here to pick me up, remember? He just drove me back up and we-"

"Please save me the details."

"No, I mean we…talked."

"Oh."

"About…where we're going."

"And where is that?"

"Nowhere. We're taking a break…for awhile."

Eli and I went through those every so often. It was no big deal.

"Oh."

"And…I might have told him about that guy that I'm thinking about getting involved with."

"Jeff?"

"Yeah."

When Eli and I broke up, it was for a month or two and we never saw anyone. Or at least he tells me that he doesn't. I tend to believe him because everyone that lives in Colby knows everything else about each other. Word would have gotten back to Heidi and then me if he had.

"Well…That's good. For you."

"It is," she agreed. "Enough about that, though. What happened with you and Eli? End on a fight again?"

"No, actually we didn't. Well, kind of, but we resolved it."

"What happened?"

"You know how Thisbe was with us at the carnival?"

"Yeah."

"She never left."

Maggie smiled a little. "Your sister and him get along pretty well, huh?"

"Yeah."

"My younger brother hates Adam." She sighed. "So, uh, you and Eli are alright though?"

"Yeah." For now. But what more could I ask for?


End file.
